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Kal-El
Superman is the most powerful being on planet Earth, an alien named Kal-El from the planet Krypton who was raised in Smallville, Kansas, to become an American superhero. Raised with high moral ideals, he uses his strength, speed, flight and various other superpowers to fight evil and protect the innocent. In his civilian identity he is Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter working for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. He is a founding member of the Justice League and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th Century. Origin Kal-El was born on Krypton to Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. After Jor-El discovered Zod's plan, he realized that the planet was doomed to destruction by warfare. He attempted to escape with his family into the Phantom Zone but was repelled by the criminals who had been imprisoned there. With no other choice, he and Lara resigned themselves to their fates, placing their son in a prototype evacuation rocket, activating its artificial intelligence, and sending it to a place with a yellow sun: Earth. The crash site was discovered by Jon and Martha Kent, who had just learned that they could not have children. Seeing this alien orphan as their chance, they gathered him up and took him home, leaving a stillborn calf in his place in the hopes of throwing the government off their trail. They raised him as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, teaching him their values. Empowered by the yellow sun of the planet Earth, Clark Kent’s alien physiology granted him extraordinary strength, speed, durability and senses that he struggled to control. The Kents raised their son to not use his gifts for personal gain, and to always keep them a secret, even from his best friend Pete Ross and the girl next door Lana Lang. In High School, Clark befriended aspiring reporter Chloe Sullivan, who kept track of strange incidents on her “Wall of Weird.” Clark also met Lex Luthor, who had a troubled relationship with his manipulative father Lionel Luthor. The "Super-Boy" One day, Clark was abducted by someone called Rokk Krinn, Imra Ardeen and Garth Ranzz. They introduced themselves the "Legion of Super-Heroes." They explained that they idolized Clark for as actions as "Superboy" ''and Superman. Clark he explained he didn't know of a Superboy (See "The Greatest Hero of Them All" for more detail). After the incident, young Clark joined the Legion. When a teenage boy from Daxam with amnesia crash landed on Earth, Clark investigated his origins, and became close friends with the boy after he save Clark’s life. Clark soon named the boy Mon-El. However, Mon-El’s deadly weakness to lead forced him to be returned to the Phantom Zone until a cure could be found. Growing Up Eventually, Jonathan revealed Clark's true parentage to him, but left it to him to decide what it would mean. When Clark was 18 he left Smallville. During this time he pursued his education at Metropolis University while seeking out a living to put himself through school. He operated this way for a few years until he was forced to save a space-plane in front of crowds of people, then meeting reporter Lois Lane for the first time at age 22. Deciding that it was time for him to become a public figure, Clark and Jonathan designed a symbol for him to wear while Martha created a costume. In his secret identity, he would drastically change his physical appearance and mannerisms while wearing spectacles so that nobody would suspect he led a double civilian life. In his civilian life, Clark initially had a job at the Daily Star, working with editor George Taylor. About a year after, he got an offer from Perry White to work at the Daily Planet, and he's never looked back. During his first costumed adventures in Metropolis, he was dubbed Superman by Lois Lane. Later she would comment his debut broke a taboo of several years, since no one saw real superheroes since the dissolution of the Justice Society in 1951. Clark began his new career as a reporter for the Daily Planet working for chief-editor Perry White, alongside Lois and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, with Superman's first exclusive interview. The media coverage would eventually attract the attention of business mogul Lex Luthor, who tests Superman and tries to get him on the villain's payroll by withholding support during a terrorist attack. Mayor Frank Berkowitz deputizes Superman so he can arrest Luthor, and Luthor swears his revenge. Repeated attempts to fight Superman eventually led to LexCorp developing an imperfect clone of the Kryptonian named Bizarro. Jimmy began using what he referred to as an "armored smartphone" of his own design to call Superman whenever he was in peril. Returning to Smallville after many years and sorting out childhood best friend Lana Lang's feelings for him, Superman is exposed to the rocket once again. This time he receives a message from his birth parents Jor-El and Lara, learning of Krypton for the first time when Kryptonian technology implants centuries of knowledge in his brain. Superman considers his dual heritage, and decides that no matter where he's from, his life on Earth has made him a human and an American. Early Adventure Kandor During his first clash with space crook Brainiac, Superman retrieved Kandor, a Kryptonian city stolen and shrunk by Brainiac before the explosion. Happy to meet more survivors, Superman stored the Bottle City in his Fortress and promised to find a way to enlarge them. He'd come to fulfill his promise, helping the Kandorian survivors settle in Rokyn World's Finest Superman and Batman first met each other as a result of Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite attempting to merge them together into a "Composite-Superman." After the incident, Batman and Superman remained close allies. Batman and Superman started a competition to define in which of their cities would a science convention should be held, but the heroes were equal and the science convention took place on both cities. Batman and Superman worked together to stop the evil Professor Pender, who used a machine to swap powers between them. Using their respective abilities, Super-Batman and Normal Superman managed to defeat Pender and return to their normal forms. Next, Superman summons Batman and Robin to Metropolis to try and figure out who is trying to reveal Superman's secret identity. This all turns out to be a ruse to keep the Dynamic Duo preoccupied while Superman travels out to Gotham City to capture the Varrel Mob. Superman and Batman stopped the Mole Gang, while also working on their civilian identities as temporary reporters in order to report the epic gang battle and save the Gotham Gazette from bankruptcy. When Superman went missing, Batman and Robin were asked to track down the Man of Steel and help him expose yet another empty threat from a criminal attempting to expose Superman's secret identity. This case would bring the earliest meeting between Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent. Sometime later, Batman and Superman investigated the mysterious case of the deaths of Robin and Jimmy Olsen, learned about a purposeful deception and captured an important gang in the process. After this, they confronted the menace of the Subject B-0, who vanished away after creating serious havoc. Next, the Batman and Superman team almost disappeared as a grudge grew between the heroes, but after working together to save Kandor, they moved past their disagreements. Following this, the heroes stopped the double threat of Braniac and Clayface with help from their sidekicks Robin and Jimmy. Batman and Superman later pulled a hoax on Doctor Zodiac, a notorious con-artist and captured him along with several other gangsters. Eventually, the Subject B-0 made a comeback, and he almost defeated the heroes. However, he sacrificed himself to prevent another alien from killing them and afterwards. Batman and Superman created a memorial in honor of him. Some time later, Batman and Superman worked together to stop Dr. Light from killing Superman with a magical staff he created The Supergirl from Krypton! A few months after finding Kandor, Superman witnessed a Kryptonian rocket crashing near from Metropolis. When Superman went to check out the place he found his cousin Kara. Overjoyed to find his long-lost relative but being unable to take care of her in the time, Superman sent his teen cousin to live with the Danvers family as he trained her. Kara eventually concluded her training, was adopted and claimed the name of Supergirl, becoming one of the most trustworthy and reliable allies of the Man of Steel. Founding the Justice League Superman had his first encounter with Green Lantern, and wound up fighting him and his old friend Batman because they had a Father Box. The fight broke up when The Flash arrived. Batman convinced them all to team up, but they were too late to stop the Father Box opening a Boom Tube to Apokolips. The four of them were forced to battle an army of invading Parademons, but they were fortunate to receive assistance from Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Black Canary. Their resistance attracted the attention of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, who came to fight them personally. Darkseid incapacitated Superman with an Omega Blast, and the Parademons carried him off to Apokolips. Batman followed to rescue him while the rest of the group remained to battle Darkseid. Superman was tortured by Desaad and Steppenwolf until Batman managed to save him. They returned to Earth and Superman punched Darkseid back through the Boom Tube as The Flash used his tech to close it. The heroes were congratulated by the President for saving the planet, and they decided to become an official team. Historian David Graves would later call them the Justice League The Modern Adventures Superman would have his first encounters with Arathaza, Bloodsport, the Circle, the Fearsome Five, Chemo, Rampage, Livewire, and the Silver Banshee. Superman and Wonder Woman met during Darkseid's Invasion, and Superman was surprised to find that he thought of her often. Eventually, the two came together, discussing their mutual attraction. After a crisis involving Darkseid and the Olympian gods was resolved, they decided they were not right for each other and would just remain friends. However, Superman did trust Diana enough to reveal to her his secret identity. Eventually, he ran into a villain called General Dru-Zod. Zod was a military general on Krypton, who was abnished into the Phantom Zone by Jor-El. Eventually, Superman exposed Zod and his army to ''Gold Kryptonite, neutralizing the yellow sun radiation and draining their abiliities and then proceeded to kill them with Green Kryptonite. The guilt of taking life weighs heavily upon Superman. He has a minor psychotic break, which manifests in the form of him blacking out and fighting crime in the guise of Gangbuster. Guardian discovers this after a brief fight. Superman decides after what he's done that he has to leave Earth. After seeing to a few things and saying good-bye to his parents, Superman uses a breathing mask and a teleporter to begin a self-imposed exile into space. After several adventures in outer space, Superman is captured by Warworld and confronts Mongul for the first time. He meets the Cleric and encounters the Eradicator. Superman is pitted against Draaga in Warwold's arena, and when he refuses to kill Draaga, Mongul attacks Superman. Superman is saved from Mongul by the Cleric, who teleports him away. Superman accepts the Eradicator device from the Cleric, who dies shortly thereafter, and deposes Mongul as the ruler of Warworld. Draaga becomes the leader of Warworld, but is humiliated by his defeat at Superman's hands of steel. Having made peace with executing the three criminals in the Pocket Universe, Superman returns to Earth. Superman soon learns the Eradicator, more sentient than he initially thought, has a mind link to him and is attempting to impose its own designs on Earth. He decides to bury it in the Antarctic, but a subsequent visit reveals that the artifact has built a vast underground fortress -- the Fortress of Solitude. Superman learns the whole history of Kem-L, his ancestor, and how he built the Eradicator and what of its true purpose. The Eradicator begins to melt some of the polar ice cap, but after a communication with holographic forms of Jor-El, Lara, and Kem-L, Superman manages to shut it down. Clark, recently fired from the Daily Planet, accepts the Managing Editor position at Newstime from Collin Thornton. The Eradicator begins to exert its influence over him again, forcing him to change into the so-called "Krypton Man." He battles Draaga again on the Moon, almost killing him in the process. Only an intervention by the Kents at the Fortress itself is enough to snap Superman out of the Eradicator's programming. He takes the Eradicator artifact and his Krypton Man costume and hurls them into the sun. Luthor's kryptonite ring is eventually stolen from him by a former employee, Amanda McCoy. With some help from Batman, Superman manages to recover the ring. He decides to entrust the ring to Batman for safe keeping, telling the Dark Knight to use it against him if he ever loses control and needs to be put down. Mister Mxyzptlk decided to have some fun with Superman through Lex Luthor. He gave Lex a piece of red kryptonite, which removed Superman's powers. It would work so long as Luthor did not tell Superman about it. When Luthor told Clark Kent, he inadvertently broke the spell and restored Superman's powers. Clark proposed to Lois Lane at this time and she accepted. Dying of cancer, Lex Luthor decides to fake his death in a plane crash. On the day of Luthor's flight, Jimmy Olsen decides to throw Lois and Clark an engagement party at the Daily Planet. Clark ducks out so that Superman can investigate the remains of the crashed jets. He finds a mangled body, complete with Luthor's prosthetic hand, and it's enough to convince himself, and the world, that Lex Luthor is dead. Superman eventually discloses to Lois the secret of his double life. Immediately afterward, Superman is swept away in an adventure across time -- Time and Time Again -- that takes him from the ancient past to the distant future. When he finally returns to the present, only a few hours have passed. Shortly thereafter, there was a strike at the Daily Planet. The Eradicator then re-emerges, this time in humanoid form. He sets out to remake the Earth into a new Krypton, but Superman battles against him yet again, seemingly destroying him for good. After a couple weeks of keeping Clark's secret, Lois found that she was a little peeved to think that Clark had been using his role as Superman to gain an advantage over her as a reporter for all those years. After Clark beat her to the punch on a story involving the Parasite, Lois was determined to one up him. The strike organizer at the Daily Planet was a man named Jeb Friedman, a southern "good ol' boy" who took a strong interest in Lois, despite her engagement to Clark. Lois was initially only interested in Jeb for any Intergang connections he might have. She then challenges Clark to scoop her on a story without using any of his powers. Lois went home to her parents, her mother almost completely recovered, where her father was attacked by Angstrom. Lois managed to hold him at bay until Superman, tipped off to Angstrom's escape and his intent by Emil Hamilton, could turn up and subdue him. Lois offered to call off the bet, but Clark insisted on keeping it. Lois promised to tell Angstrom's story, but the true facts were lost when he was cured at STAR and they sold the story to Newstime. Despite his obvious intentions, Lois and Jeb actually became friends, although it made Clark more than a little jealous. Lex Luthor later turned up alive in Metropolis, claiming that his plane was hijacked and he was being held hostage by terrorists. Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman would continue to try to protect the universe directly from various forces throughout all of his career such like Mongul's Warworld (For the Man Who Has Everything) up until the war against the Anti-Monitor. It would be during this conflict that Kal-El would lose his cousin Kara. He would not recover from the loss of Supergirl at the hands of the Anti-Monitor. Like his Earth-2 counterpart, Superman would decide to sacrifice his life in order to stop the Anti-Monitor but was stopped by a somewhat underhanded sneak blow by the elder Kal-L who decided the younger and more powerful Kryptonian would have a better chance at stopping the Anti-Monitor later if Kal-L's direct attack against the Anti-Monitor failed. Kal-L's attack, along with the assistance of Superboy-Prime, succeeded and the single surviving universe was saved. The Superman of Earth-1 returned to the singular Earth and continued to be active as Superman. Post-Crisis Bizarro Lex Luthor, whose body has apparently been cured of cancer, attempts to clone Superman again using Dr. Teng's procedure, resulting in a second Bizarro Superman. Thinking that he is the real Superman, this Bizarro escapes from Luthor and kidnaps Lois Lane. Lois manages to escape from "Bizarro World," a warehouse where Bizarro had attempted to recreate Metropolis in his own warped way. His memories fragmented, Bizarro flies to Smallville and tries kidnapping Lana Lang, not understanding why she resists him. Superman arrives and drives Bizarro back to Metropolis After a battle in the city between Superman and his twisted clone, Luthor reclaims Bizarro. Superman and Lois fly to LexCorp Towers to free him, but Bizarro dies soon after they arrive. At the same time, Superman notices a distinct increase in his powers (and his mass as well). Superman is diagnosed by Dr. Hamilton as having his absorption rate being out of control -- he is absorbing far too much energy, and his size and powers begin to grow exponentially. Cadmus Labs attempts to help him, but their efforts prove fruitless. After several failed attempts at controlling the situation, Superman is only cured after allowing the Parasite to purge him of the excess energy. Unfortunately, he is unable to defeat the Parasite, who knocks the Man of Steel out (and clear across Metropolis) before leaving to lay low. Cyborg-Superman Cyborg-Superman landed on Earth and went on a rampae in Metropolis. Superman stopped Zor-El from destroying the city but many people were injured. Superman followed Zor-El to Coast City, where he recieved the assistance of Hal Jordan and defeating the Cyborg-Superman. The Wedding Lois returns to Metropolis immediately after the Cyborg-Superman's attack (breaking up an international drug ring in the process) and reconciles with Clark. The two decide to get married quickly. Lucy Lane throws Lois a bridal shower and a bachelorette party, while Clark has a bachelor party thrown at the Ace O' Clubs. The marriage is arranged in short order, with Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane as best man and maid of honor. Clark is still powerless after Zor-El's attack, but Batman arranges for a cadre of heroes to look over Metropolis for him. Batman also happened to own an apartment building where Lois found an ideal place, and so as a wedding gift he allowed for Clark and Lois to move into the home Lois and Clark then went on a Honeymoon in Hawaii, where Clark was shot and kidnapped by terrorists and Lois had to come to his rescue -- which she did commando style. After getting home from the honeymoon, Superman is determined to get his powers back. After several failed efforts involving the Legion of Super-Heroes, Cadmus, and a visit to the Fortress, it is an encounter with the New Gods that restores Superman to his old self. In the meantime, Lex Luthor, restored to celebrity status for his aid during the Attack, voluntarily turns himself in to the authorities. Five of Superman's old foes -- Maxima, Barrage, Anomaly, Misa, and Riot -- form a Superman Revenge Squad and come after him. They do not present much of a challenge to Big Blue. After a long absence, Intergang finally makes a return, filled mostly with the clones of long dead members. After a menace from Know Man and an invasion by the White Martians, Superman is one of the seven new charter members of the new JLA. See the Justice League entry for more information of his adventures with the new team. President Luthor Lex Luthor, regarded as a national hero for his perceived role in the Final Night, Y2K and No Man's Land was elected President of the United States, with Pete Ross as his Vice President. Superman was very upset over the news. Batman confronted the President-elect and demanded the return of the Kryptonite ring, but Luthor called his bluff and did not turn it over. Lana vowed to keep Superman's secret no matter what, and Batman promised Superman that Luthor would be taken down in due time. Superman brooded over the turn of events all the way through the end of the year, although by Christmas, Lois and he tried to make the best of the situation. After giving gifts to the members of the JLA, Clark and Lois decided to take a few days off to visit Kandor. Superman, still angry with Batman over the events of Tower of Babel (see JLA), did not seek his aid when Talia Head arrived in Metropolis. Talia was estranged from her father, Ra's al Ghul, who was weak and sickly beyond any help from the Lazarus Pits. Ra's had kidnapped La Encantadora's younger brother to force the woman to use her powers. Ra's al Ghul was planning on ascending to godhood by merging with an aspect of Gaia, but she rejected him. Superman was offered godhood, but easily rejected it. Superman encounters a rocket ship in the field near his parents' house. The rocket contains a message from Jor-El -- one that presents a totally different history of Krypton (one much closer to the Silver Age version), with Jor-El explaining that he made up the harsh, brutal history because he wanted his son to fully embrace his new world. Superman has trouble reconciling this with everything he knows of Krypton, but Dr. Hamilton tells him that it may be possible to travel through the Phantom Zone back in time to Krypton and find out. Lois decides to accompany Superman on this adventure. Meanwhile, President Luthor names most of his new team: Lois's father, Sam Lane, is appointed Secretary of Defense; Black Lightning is named Secretary of Education; Cat Grant is appointed Press Secretary; and Amanda Waller is appointed Secretary of Meta-Human affairs. Superman encounters a very different Krypton than the one he ever imagined, but gets along wonderfully with his parents and their pet, Krypto, until all is wrecked by the fanatical General Zod. Superman and Lois flee back to Earth, accompanied by Krypto, who develops superpowers under Earth's sun. Krypto proves a little too much for life in Metropolis, however, and after a fight with Mongul in which he almost kills the alien villain, Superman decides to take the dog to the Fortress and have a Super-Robot look after him. Superman encounters an ultra-violent team of "heroes" called the Elite, led by Manchester Black, who believe that the best way to stop the bad guys is to terminate them. Superman, vastly underpowered compared to their team, forces a confrontation on one of Jupiter's moons where he is able to defeat them without killing anyone, proving his way is best. Black is taken into custody but swears he'll have vengeance. (What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?) A creature called Kancer goes on a killing spree, revealing itself to have been grown from the Kryptonite tumor extracted from Superman's body. Superman's investigation points to a figure in Pokolistan as being responsible for having La Encantadora poison him and then creating Kancer, so Superman and some allies head there for some answers. During a pitched battle with Kancer, Faora, and Ignition, Superman is sucker punched by a being known as the "General" -- he is hit so hard that his jaw is actually broken Last Son A young boy, seemingly from Krypton, landed in Metropolis in a ship. Although initially the government worked with Superman on studying him, they later moved the boy without informing the Man of Steel. Angered, Clark hijacked the truck transporting the child and took him. Lois and Clark decided to take the boy in as their son, naming him Christopher. When General Zod and numerous other Kryptonian criminals broke free from the Phantom Zone, he sent Superman there. Zod was defeated when Superman was able to break free of the Zone. Zod was stunned to find that his own biological son Lor-Zod rejected him, preferring Kal-El and his wife as his parents. Confronted with this betrayal, Kal-El decided to accept the boy as his own and along with his wife Lois are raising the boy on Earth as their own. Later, Chris sealed himself in the Phantom Zone to prevent Zod from conquering Earth. Post-Flashpoint Superboy Superman learned of an incident in which the Titans broke into Cadmus. Superman was then introduced to Kon-El, a partial clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor. After breaking up the metahuman creation and traficking ring that was Cadmus, Superman gave Kon-El the name "Conner Kent." Vyndkvx After faking his death as Clark Kent to shake off someone who was investigating too closely into his secret identity, Clark took the alias of Johnny Clark and joined the fire department. Still he began to regret killing Clark Kent off and sought advice from Batman, who promised to deal with it After discovering an alien named Captain Comet who foretold of Earth's extinction by alien attacks, Superman managed to fight him off but, in the process, caused his Johnny Clark identity to be thought dead as well. Luckily, Superman's former landlady, Mrs. Nyxly, who knew of his former secret identity as Clark Kent, revealed to him that she was from the Fifth Dimension and used one of her three wishes she had saved to wipe Clark Kent's death from everyone's minds. Nyxly continued to tell Superman that everything bad that ever happened in his life was the doing of someone else from her home. She explained that Lord Vyndktvx, from her home Dimension had attacked Clark at multiple points in his history, to the point that certain memories he had might have happened otherwise before those attacks. Lord Vyndktvx finally made a play for Superman's life in the present with his assembled Anti-Superman Army. Finally understanding Vyndktvx's weakness, Superman used a telepathic connection set up by Lois Lane's psychic niece Susie Thompkins to convince everyone in the world to say their own names backwards. The sound of this five-dimensional utterance caused Vyndktvx to retreat to his own dimension, where he was immediately arrested. Trinity War and Forever Evil In the hopes of ridding the world of evil, Pandora tried to have members of the Justice League open her box for her, believing that their virtuousness would prevent the calamity that occurred when she opened it. However, this backfired, and the active Justice Leagues took sides, fighting over the "correct" method to open the box. While trying to understand the escalating tension of opening the box, Superman and Wonder Woman were ambushed by Dr. Light and, during their fight, Superman accidentally killed Light with his heat vision. Superman asked to be locked away for his outburst but started getting sick in captivity. Upon investigating further, Firestorm, the Atom, and Element Woman discovered that there was Kryptonite in Superman's nervous system, which caused him to attack Dr. Light unintentionally. However, before they could save him, the Crime Syndicate came to Earth from their world and trapped the Justice League inside the Firestorm Matrix. After being freed by Lex Luthor and his group of rebellious criminals, Superman was eventually saved by Luthor, who was volunteered to remove the Kryptonite from his brain. Darkseid War Superman and the rest of the League become involved in a war with Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor. He and Lex end up on Apokalypse and he realizes he is losing his powers as there us no sun on Apokalypse. He gets overcharged by an unusual solar energy. He fights with Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman. Batman reveals that the solar energy Superman absorbed is killing him. Infinite Crisis Superman works with the rest of the Justice League to save people from Superboy-Prime's assault on the Earth. Clark and Kal-L later work together to defeat Superboy-Prime. One Year Later Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman helped to form a new Justice League. Superman served as the head to the council for the League, and led them to victory against the Secret Society. Final Days After his last fight with Vandal Savage in his depowered state, the events of the Darkseid War, and his fight with the Kryptonian god Rao, Superman learned that he was dying and asked for Batman's help to find him a successor. As part of his legacy, Superman told the whole truth to Lois Lane and asked her to publish everything in the Daily Planet in order to have his history and identity revealed to the world before his death.Superman told the truth to Diana, and they shared a moment before they were needed back in Metropolis, where the "Energy Superman" they had caught days earlier had escaped Stryker Island and was destroying everything. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman together tried to stop the Energy Superman and ultimately succeeded, when Superman took the Energy Superman to space, where he used his solar flare power to finish the threat and the Energy Superman evaporated in the cosmos. Death and Return Not long after, a monstrous alien beast called Doomsday emerged in eastern Ohio and began to march toward Metropolis. The beast single-handedly defeated the Justice League when the team rallied to stop it (this lineup consisted of Green Arrow, Hal Jordan, Darkstar, Snowstorm, Atom and Cyborg). Superman battled the creature across several states, eventually drawing the line in Metropolis itself. After a desperate battle, Superman managed to put down the monster -- but collapsed as he did so, dying in Lois' arms. All attempts to revive Superman failed, and he was pronounced dead -- while Clark was discovered to be MIA as well (one of the several hundred people missing and presumed dead from Doomsday's rampage). Superman was buried with full honors, with hundreds of heads of state and several hundred thousand onlookers present, beneath a large statue in Centennial Park. The Justice League and other heroes marched behind the casket, following their leader (official or not) one last time. Lois, Lana, and the Kents were all devastated. The family decided to keep the secret that Superman and Clark Kent were one and the same, while Cadmus stole the body from the tomb. Supergirl retrieved the body from Cadmus. Jonathan Kent, suffering from a heart attack, is rushed to the hospital in Smallville, where he is remains in critical condition. Jonathan recovers after having a near-death experience in which his soul, guided by Kismet, met with Superman's spirit (which was being plagued by demons) and convinced him to fight his way back to the land of the living. Even as Jonathan awakes and tells Lois and Martha that Superman has returned, sightings of four different beings, all claiming to be Superman, emerge in Metropolis: "The Man of Tomorrow," "The Last Son of Krypton," "The Man of Steel," and "The Metropolis Kid." A trip to the tomb itself reveals it to be empty. While the first two actually claimed to be Superman (and provided circumstantial evidence that this was true), the latter two did not make the same claim. The young Superboy claimed to be the son of the original Superman (in fact, that was true) and the New Superman from China was alleged (by a psychic named Rosie) to have Superman's soul. Cults began to spring up in Metropolis, worshiping any one of the new four (the visored Superman or the Cyborg primarily) as messiahs. President Luthor is saved by the Cyborg, and officially endorses him as the real Superman. Lois feels that of all of them, Superboy is the closest to the ideal of Superman. It is eventually revealed that none of the four are the real deal. The Eradicator, rendered incorporeal after his last battle with Superman, went to the tomb to try to use Superman's body as a new vessel. Sensing Superman's soul was still lingering, he fashioned a new body from concrete in Superman's image and placed Kal-El's body in a regeneration matrix that was bombarded with sunlight. The Eradicator's body could not absorb sunlight the way Kal-El's could, so he used Kal-El's body to power his own until Superman was successfully revived. His memory had been hazy, however, and he briefly believed that he was actually Superman. He also struggled with the new, human emotions he felt in his new body. When Superman was finally revived in the Fortress, he was weak and powerless, so he used a Kryptonian battle suit to get to Metropolis. When the war suit arrived in Metropolis it was met by Lex Luthor II, Lois, and others, who were shocked when a black-suited Superman emerged and told them all that he is the real McCoy. Upon learning that Coast City has been attacked by the Cyborg Superman (and that he plans to obliterate Metropolis next), he joins with Superboy, Kon-El, New Superman, Supergirl, and Steel and heads for the site, which is now the location of Engine City. Before they leave, he has a brief talk with Lois, who becomes mostly convinced that this man is the man she fell in love with. The assault on Engine City is hard, but Superman is soon joined first by Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), who manages to defeat Mongul after Superman and Supergirl could not, and then the Eradicator, who explains that it was he who was responsible for Superman's revival -- and that it cannot happen a second time. Superman also learns that the Cyborg is really Hank Henshaw, who was so desperate for revenge against Superman that he decided he would assume his identity and have the universe blame Superman when Earth was destroyed. During the fight, Superman's powers are restored through a self-sacrifice by the Eradicator and the Cyborg is stopped. Superman returns to Metropolis -- and to Lois, who no longer has any doubts he is the real thing. Superman gets right back into action, quickly convincing Lex Luthor and Maggie Sawyer that he is the genuine article as well. Unfortunately, he still has to "reacquire" the rights to the name and symbol "Superman," Jon graciously returns the rights to the Man of Steel. Superman, with the help of the Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter, manages to come up with a plausible way of "resurrecting" Clark Kent, who had not been seen since Superman's death (one of several hundred people unaccounted for because of Doomsday's rampage). Martian Manhunter takes Clark's form and Superman "finds" Clark in the rubble of a destroyed building. Jimmy gets another picture of Superman and Clark side-by-side. Doctor Occult visits Superman and Lois, explaining to them how his revival occurred before taking them to Kansas to see his overjoyed parents. Superman also learns that the Fortress of Solitude has been destroyed; he buries what is left of it in the ice and does his best to stop the cults that have sprung up worshiping him. He also discovers that the Eradicator has been healed, seemingly after his body was merged with the mind of a scientist named David Conner. Clark is welcomed back to a chorus of cheers at the Daily Planet and Superman is thrown a party by Lex Luthor aboard a blimp, but the scene gets ugly when Underworlders attack the blimp, trying to kill Paul Westfield. Fortunately, the Man of Steel saves the day (and both Westfield and Luthor). Superman leaps back into the good fight with renewed vigor -- he barely stops to rest in the first few weeks after his return. He fought a new team, Nuclear Waste, and said good-bye to his old friend John Henry Irons, who had decided to give up being a superhero (his armor being mostly destroyed in Engine City) and was relocating to Washington D.C. Rebirth Return of Kara Zor-El Shortly after his own resurrection, Supergirl met another woman claiming to be Supergirl. This woman was Kara Zor-El. This encounter was brief, as the Spectre had to return her to her own timeline, but this set the stage for something a few weeks later. After the fallout of the recent death of Darkseid and the Infinite Crisis, a strange ripple energy occurred causing a tear in the fabric of Hypertime itself. It was revealed that Kara Danvers had been lost in Hypertime for about five years. The ripple caused by Superboy-Prime allowed Kara to partially break through, but each attempt caused her to fall further into hypertime. After realizing not even Mon-El (her traditional love interest) remembered her, Kara sank into desolation and chose to appear before Clark one last time to thank him for the life he had given her. Just before Kara disappeared, Clark suddenly remembered her and dragged her free of Hypertime. Following a tearful reunion, Kara gave Clark her warning of the true source of the universal change and the dangers to come. Although the two decide to keep Kara's return secret from Martha and Lois based on Kara's own experience with Mon-El, Clark encourages her to return to the Teen Titans, but also recommends that she don a new costume to reflect that she is Superwoman rather than 'Supergirl'. While Kara considers her options, Clark visits Batman and the Flash to discuss the new evidence of some outside force attacking them, musing on how personal this assault appears, but despite the potential danger, Batman, Clark and Barry agree to keep their investigation to themselves until they know what they are up against H'el on Earth Soon after, the Daily Planet was bought out by businessman Morgan Edge, initiating a major change in the reporting style of the Planet. Unhappy with the changes, Clark quit working for the paper and, to make matters worse, found out that his love interest Lois Lane was now in a serious relationship with another man named John Carroll. Later, in his hero identity, Superman was confronted by another Kryptonian called H'el, who wanted to recruit him by force to join his unholy crusade of saving Krypton. After learning that H'el wanted to use the Fortress to go back in time to save Krypton, Superman called in the rest of his family to fight H'el and prevent the destruction of the solar system. Superman Reborn In order to escape Mister Oz, Mr. Mxyzptlk brainwashed himself into thinking he was Clark Kent. He harassed Superman and when he was found out, kidnapped Jon Kent and made his parents forget about him. Trapping all of them inside the Fifth Dimension, Mxyzptlk revealed that both the New Earth and Prime Earth Supermen were actually two halves of the true, complete Superman, who was split into two separate people during the Flashpoint incident. The same was true for Lois. Out of love for Jon, Clark and Lois merged with the essences of the other two and each became single, complete Prime Earth version; fixing their conflicting histories and bringing the world back to normal. Afterwards, Clark felt the need to investigate the changes to his past and reach his cousin out to warn her about his unknown enemy, Mister Oz, and ask her help to fight him. Revenge As Clark and Lois get ready to move back to Metropolis, Hank Henshaw puts together a new Superman Revenge Squad. Stealing a mystical item from Superman's Himalayan backup Fortress, Henshaw turns himself back into Cyborg Superman and allies himself with Metallo, Blanque, Eradicator, Mongul and Zod. Superman tries to stop them, but exposure to the energies of Belle Reve's Black Vault has rendered him blind. Superman is forced to retreat, taking Lois, Jon and Krypto to the Fortress of Solitude. The group of villains assaults his Fortress before he can come up with a plan, but the Superman Family -Kara Zor-El, Lana Lang, John Irons, Kon-El, Kong Kenan- and Lex Luthor turn up, ready to help him. During the ensuing brawl, Zod manages to send most of Superman's allies to the Phantom Zone and frees his wife Ursa and their son Lor-Zod. The trio leaves Earth for the present time. Superman and his family -Supergirl, Lois, Superboy, Supernova and Krypto- defeat the rest of the Squad and free Superman's friends. However Cyborg Superman got stuck in the Zone, and Superman decides against getting him out of there. Man of Steel hortly after the city of Metropolis paid him a tribute for years of heroism, Superman found someone was burning down Metropolis, one building at a time. Superman was in the process of tracking down the mysterious arsonist when someone broke into his Fortress, leveled the place and, worst of all, smashed down the Bottle City of Kandor. Both Superman and Supergirl tracked the mass-murderer -an unknown alien called Rogol Zaar who intended to cleanse the universe from Kryptonians after aiding in the destruction of their birth planet- all the way back to Metropolis, but their combined might wasn't enough to bring down Rogol Zaar. Superman engaged Rogol in the Moon but was defeated. Rescued by his cousin and healed by the Justice League, Superman figured out if Rogol intended to cleanse the Kryptonian "plague", he was also going to blow Earth up Powers and Abilities Powers * Kryptonian Physiology: '''Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Superman possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian, slightly more so due to his amount of time on Earth. ** '''Solar Energy Absorption: '''Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Superman's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of small organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure. ** '''Enhanced Vision: '''Superman's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus. This umbrella ability includes the following: *** '''Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: '''Superman can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing. *** '''X-Ray Vision: '''This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Supermans can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects. *** '''Telescopic Vision: '''The ability to focus his vision to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. *** '''Microscopic Vision: '''The ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the sub atomic level. *** '''Infrared Vision: '''Superman can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness. *** '''Heat Vision: '''Superman can fire beams of intense heat from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing him to work undetected, but when fired at full-strength the effect is displayed as an intense red burst from his ocular cavities. ** '''Super-Hearing: '''Superman has the ability to expand his hearing range, giving him the ability to hear sounds before the sound waves actually reach him. This also gives him incredible hearing at extreme variances of sound and pitch frequency, allowing him to pick up noises from across the globe. He has shown enough control to block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source/frequency. ** '''Invulnerability: '''Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure, Superman is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases. ** '''Super Strength: '''Superman's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass. He has also been shown to use this for other great feats. According to the Daily Planet, he can "leap tall buildings in a single bound." ** '''Super Speed: '''Superman is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time. *** This also gives him '''Superhuman Agility and Superhuman Reflexes. ** Super Breath: 'Superman is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs ** '''Solar Flare: '''Superman's last resort power that he'd discovered through his heat vision, was the ability to immediately expel all of his stored solar energy in one gigantic burst of explosive force. This Solar Flare utilizes all the stored energy within his cells at once, allowing for an all out AoE attack. He cannot use it more than once or twice however, as it drains him of all his powers until he can recharge his cells with solar energy. Give or take 24 hours, in that expanse of time, he is rendered virtually human and vulnerable ** '''Longevity: '''Because of his enhanced density and general health, caused by the yellow sun, Superman has a lifespan significantly longer than that of a regular Homo sapien. Abilities * '''Expert Combatent: '''Due to having superpowers all his life and constantly engaging in battle with various foes, Superman has over time become an excellent hand-to-hand fighter utilizing a fighting style that directly complements his superpowers. Superman's combat versatility allows him to adapt to any foe and beat them. Additionally, Superman has been trained in boxing by Wildcat, Mongul in Gladiator combative methods, Wonder Woman in wrestling and even learned some advanced martial arts techniques from Batman * '''Above-Average Intellect: '''He has shown incredible intelligence and computational abilities; his mind works sharply and with extreme speed relative to earth-humans. Superman's analytical powers enable him to read information directly from machines (and, with careful usage of his heat vision, he can even reprogram machines). * '''Indomitable Will: '''Superman has shown to have a powerful spirit, free of corruption and temptation. Having been raised by a kindly Kansas farmer and his wife, he was taught to protect life and help others. He is very optimistic and never gives up, even when things look bad. Superman has learned how to place mental inhibitors on his own power so that he doesn't accidentally "flex and cause the tectonic plates to shift." To him, they are the barriers that allow him to feel human enough to live a healthy life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a difficult task. * '''Investigation: '''Both as a superhero and as a journalist, Superman is an expert at gathering evidence from all kinds of sources. * '''Journalism: '''Clark is one of the best reporters on the Daily Planet payroll, bested only by his wife Lois Lane... though Clark is much better at spelling and grammar. He's won multiple Pulitzers. * '''Ventrelequism: ' * '''Leadership: '''Superman has proven many times over his ability to command respect and inspire others with his charisma, ardor, and idealism. He often serves as the primus inter pares of the Justice League. * '''Intimidation * Hypnotism * Vehicles * Multilingualism Weaknesses * 'Kryptonite: '''Since the destruction of Krypton, its remains (rendered radioactive by the explosion) have been spreading throughout the universe as Kryptonite, a crystalline substance whose specific radioactive wavelength is lethal to Kryptonians. The most common form of Kryptonite is Green Kryptonite, and its effect is directly poisonous to him. ** '''Red Kryptonite: '''Red Kyptonite causes random mutations. For this reason, it's sometimes referred to as "Olsen's rock." ** '''Gold Kryptonite: '''Gold Kryptonite disables solar absorption while in a localized radius to Superman (or other Kryptonians). * '''Red Sun Radiation: '''Neutralizes his powers. * '''Magic: '''Superman's biomatrix is his most powerful asset, but the strength of this field is also its greatest weakness. Its permeability to certain wavelengths makes him vulnerable to certain radiations, particularly magical energies whose chaotic electromagnetic or extra dimensional signatures disrupt this force field. Superman's vulnerability to magic varies depending upon the special effects of the magic. Magic can have powerful and unpredictable effects on Superman and his magical enemies have often proven to be the most dangerous * '''Lead: '''Superman cannot see through lead with his x-ray vision powers. * '''High-Pitched Noises: '''Because of his super hearing, Superman's ears are extra-sensitive to extreme noises. * '''Psionics: '''Superman's mind is vulnerable to psionic effects, even though he has undergone training in telepathic defense and had mental blocks installed by J'onn J'onzz to protect his identity and secrets, he still remains susceptible to telepathic coercion by powerful telepaths and mind controllers. * '''Oxygen Deprivation: '''Even Superman needs Oxygen. Paraphernalia * '''Superman Suit: '''The suit was sown by his Mother as a gift when he moved to Metropolis. * '''Cape of El: '''The cape of El is the cape of the leader of the House of El. Superman wears it as part of his costume. * '''Kryptonian Boots of Flight: '''These boots allow him to fly under high gravity conditions. Trivia * Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, published in 1938. * Superman was created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster * The five guilds in Krypton are: ** The Guild of Thought (Everything from scientists to engineers) ** The Guild of Reason (Basically the criminal justice system and lawmakers) ** The Guild of War (The military) ** The Guild of Passion (Artists) ** The Guild of Labor (All the other jobs that required a sentient mind to perform) * The Kents actually adopted Clark in 1979. * He has a Master's Degree in Journalism. * He reads a lot. * His friendship with Batman has become somewhat strained over the years. He still considers Bruce Wayne to be his best friend. * Superman tries to stay out of Political Affairs. * Despite the fact that he has met actual Gods before, Superman still identifies as a Christian. * Superman has been a part of every incarnation of the Justice League so far. * Superman is considered to be the first conventional superhero of the modern age. Batman predates him by more than half a decade. * He was born of December 15th 1978 (Or at least, ''Clark Kent ''was). His time of birth was 7:38 pm. * Some Jewish scholars have suggested that he is the ''Voice of God. * He dated both Lana Lang and Lori Lemaris at some point. * His catchphrase is "Truth, Justice and the American Way!" * Superman doesn't drink alcohol. * He was vegetarian at one point in his life, but soon quit on it. He has since had advised against it. * Clark's favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird." * He has a bachelor's degree in journalism. * Clark Kent's favorite musical artist is Phil Collins. Rumor has it Clark got the idea of taking the name "Superman" from a line in Genesis' song "Land of Confusion". He also quotes lyrics from his songs during interviews. He received his first Phil Collins record from Lana Lang. * Clark's favorite meals include Hot Dogs, Beef Bourguignon, and Rhubarb Pie. He also likes the pretzels with mustard from the pretzel vendor two blocks down from the Daily Planet. * In addition to his career as a journalist, Clark has written two best-selling novels "Birthright" and "Under a Yellow Sun". Birthright is a sci-fi superhero story. Under the Yellow Sun was about a journalist and his day-to-day frustrations with the job. * Lex Luthor is his personal nemesis. Category:Justice League Members Category:Superheroes Category:Vigilantes Category:Superman Category:Superman Family Category:Characters